NCAA football: Louisville upsets No. 4 Florida 33-23 in Sugar Bowl

Louisville safety Calvin Pryor predicted the Cardinals would "shock the world" against Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

Brave words that he and his teammates backed up from start to finish.

Terell Floyd returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown on the first play, dual-threat quarterback Teddy Bridgewater directed a handful of scoring drives and No. 22 Louisville stunned the fourth-ranked Gators 33-23 in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night in New Orleans.

Shaking off an early hit that flattened him and knocked off his helmet, Bridgewater was 20-of-32 passing for 266 yards and two touchdowns against the heavily favored Gators. Among his throws was a pinpoint, 15-yard timing toss that DeVante Parker acrobatically grabbed as he touched one foot down in the corner of the end zone.

His other scoring strike went to Damian Copeland from 19 yards one play after a surprise onside kick by the Gators had backfired badly. Jeremy Wright had a short touchdown run that gave the two-touchdown underdogs from the Big East a 14-0 lead from which the Gators never recovered.

By the end, the chant, "Charlie, Charlie!" -- for third-year Louisville coach Charlie Strong, the former defensive coordinator for the Gators -- echoed from sections of the Superdome occupied by red-clad Cardinals fans.

Florida never trailed by more than 10 points this season, and the Southeastern Conference power had lost only once going into this game. The defeat dropped SEC teams to 3-3 this bowl season, with Alabama, Texas A&M and Mississippi still left to play.

Louisville and Florida each finished at 11-2.

Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel, who had thrown only three interceptions all season, turned the ball over three times on two interceptions -- both tipped passes -- and a fumble. He finished 16 of 29 for 175 yards.

Down 33-10 midway through the fourth period, Florida tried to rally. Andre Debose scored on a 100-yard kickoff return and Driskel threw a TD pass to tight end Kent Taylor with 2:13 left. But when Louisville defenders piled on Driskel to thwart the 2-point try, the game was essentially over.

Utah: Defensive end Joe Kruger has opted not to return for his senior season and instead will enter the NFL draft. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound junior played in 37 of 38 games for the Utes from 2010 to 2012, with 14 starts. He led Utah with six sacks this season and had eight tackles for loss.

Joe is the youngest of three Kruger brothers. Paul plays linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, and Dave just finished his Utah career as a four-year starting defensive tackle.

Boise State: For Boise State President Bob Kustra, the decision to part ways with the Big East and rejoin the Mountain West ultimately came down to predictable revenue, conference stability and the opportunity for the football team to cash in on its growing national brand.

"I was committed to the Big East decision and thought it was a good decision," Kustra told reporters Wednesday. "But this thing started changing, and then it became a different matter. That's where the Boise State and the Mountain West come together for this very innovative approach."

The centerpiece of the deal, and a provision unique to Boise State among its MWC peers, is the ability for the Broncos to negotiate its own television deal for all home games.

BCS championship: Top-ranked Notre Dame landed in South Florida, not long before the arrival of second-ranked Alabama. The teams meet Monday night to decide the BCS championship, a matchup that was set more than a month ago, the hype growing with each passing day.

"Going to play the national championship game in Miami, it's not like any trip that they've had before," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "It's not like any trip that I've had before. And so there was an anticipation that when we got on the buses to the airport that they were really excited about this trip. It's something that you dream about when you play this game and when you coach this game."

Alabama All-America center Barrett Jones wore a walking boot to protect the left foot he sprained during the SEC championship but said he was ready to go.